


Exchanges

by Mareel



Series: Parallel [3]
Category: Mass Effect, Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: AU, Crossover, Delphic Expanse, Engineering, Food, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Mass Effect 3, normandy sr2, post-Season 4 Enterprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-23 00:11:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6098482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mareel/pseuds/Mareel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The <i>Enterprise NX-01</i> might not have mass effect technology, but they have some other things worth sharing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exchanges

**Author's Note:**

> Not long before the mission to Cerberus HQ, the _Normandy SR-2_ had been pulled into the Delphic Expanse by some force related to the residual spatial anomalies in the Expanse. Kaidan's biotics and implant didn't handle the shift well, and the _Enterprise_ engineers are helping to install protective Trellium-D shielding on the _Normandy_ to reduce the impact of the anomalies on the ship and crew.
> 
> Trip and Tali have been working together on the project. This is Trip's voice.
> 
> This is part of the [Parallel](http://archiveofourown.org/series/338593) series.

 

"Trip, how's it going over there on the _Normandy_? Getting that Trellium-D shielding installed?" 

"Workin' on it, Cap'n. Not a big ship, but there's still a lot to get covered."

"I'm worried about the effects of these anomalies on the non-human crew there... and any of the crew who have what they call biotic abilities."

Another voice breaks into the transmission, sounding concerned. "Captain Archer, this is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. Our engineers are presently crawling around the engines trying to do this shielding. May I ask about Commander Shepard and the others on your ship?"

"Hello, Tali'Zorah... van Normandy? Did I get that right?"

"Not quite, Captain. It is _vas Normandy_. But as you humans might say... 'close enough'."

"My apologies, Ms vas Normandy. To answer your question, yes Commander Shepard and Doctor T'Soni are fine here. But Major Alenko is..."

"Oh no, is Kaidan okay? He gets headaches you know, from his biotic implant. And just call me Tali."

"Kaidan is in our sickbay. The anomalies that the shielding material will protect from had a serious effect on him. Our doctor is in touch with Dr. Chakwas about his medical history... and they have decided it's better to treat him here at least until your ship is shielded."

Her voice still sounds concerned. "I haven't heard of anyone else here being that adversely affected... it might be his L2 implant... Please pass along our wishes for his recovery." Almost an afterthought, she adds "Is Shepard with him?"

"He is. He's sitting by his bed in sickbay right now. Won't leave him there alone." 

"Thank you, Captain. That's good to know. We will get back to work here. Tali out."

"Hey, Cap'n. Sound like you got the gist of it. I guess this is a pretty tight-knit crew. I'll contact you when we're done here."

"Sounds good, Trip. T'Pol still hasn't figured out exactly how they arrived here, nor when they're likely to shift back to their universe, so we need them prepared for however long a stay they'll have here."

_________________________________

 

"Okay, Tali. We need to let that dry before we apply the final coating. Take a short break maybe?"

She nods. I'm learning to read some of her body language. It takes some getting used to, not seeing any facial expressions behind that mask. Can't imagine how it would be to live your whole life inside an environmental suit... 

"Would you like to join me in the Mess? I'm sure there's plenty of food suitable for humans. Most of the _Normandy_ 's crew are either human or eat the same food."

Now she's got me curious.

"Lead on, Tali. A bite of lunch and maybe a cup of coffee sound pretty good right now. I wondered... can I ask you a personal question? Well, not _personal_ personal... just a question about your people?"

She laughs as she gestures to me to sit down at one of the tables. Not much of a galley, just some microwaves and hot plates... and a fridge I guess. "Of course. You've probably never met any quarians." She holds up a food packet. "How about this? It's called _chili con carne_. It just needs to be heated up."

"Sure that sounds fine. And nope, never met anyone like you. You mention 'human food' - do you eat something else?"

She has selected a ration pack with a brightly colored stripe across the label. "Yes, quarians... and turians too... cannot process the amino acids in your human food. We required _dextro_ amino acids as the components of our proteins. The striped rations are dextro."

The chili is hot, and probably nutritious, but pretty bland. Tali must have noticed my reaction to it. "It doesn't taste very good? I've never tried it of course, but Commander Shepard usually adds hot sauce. To everything. Let me see if there's some in the fridge."

"Ahh that hits the spot, Tali. Thank you. Yeah, kinda bland without it. Is this all you and the crew ever get to eat on your missions? Rations?"

"Yes... and the dextro ration packs are probably worse. Well, there are fewer varieties anyway. This one is supposed to be a popular quarian soup. But it didn't taste like this when my mother made it." She shrugs expressively. "But at least we won't starve."

Our talk turns from food to a discussion of the relative merits of warp versus mass effect technology. Tali is definitely one hell of an engineer. I guess there's no dilithium in her world though... just like I've never heard of _eezo_ in ours, so we can't really adopt each other's technology. Sure is fun to think about it though. Their ships cover some helluva distance with those relays of theirs.

_________________________________

 

"Cap'n, I was wondering... you think it would be okay if I talked to Chef about maybe making some take-out to send over to the _Normandy_ crew? I had one of their ration packs for lunch... pretty grim stuff. Even with hot sauce."

I smile, remembering how much Shepard and Kaidan enjoyed the meal we had here, just before Kaidan collapsed. I hadn't really thought about how it might compare with what they were accustomed to eating. 

"Sure, sounds like a good thought, Trip. Just be sure there's enough for everyone."

"Well, to do that I'm gonna need to make some programming modifications to the protein resequencer. The quarians... that was Tali that you talked with, can't digest normal proteins. Same thing with the turians... their weapons specialist, Garrus, is turian. They need dextro amino acids. Pretty sure the reprogramming wouldn't be too hard to do."

"I'll check with Commander Shepard to make sure he has no objections, but meanwhile, get on the programming modifications." I clap his shoulder, smiling. "It would be a nice thing to do. They're on a war footing back in their world. I'm not surprised that fine dining had to take a back seat in priority. There might even be food shortages."

"Thanks, Cap'n. Will do. And they should have the Trellium D installation complete by the end of their gamma shift tonight."

_________________________________

 

Since I needed to inspect their new shielding, I offered to bring Chef's box lunches with me in the shuttle. I couldn't taste the dextro food, but it smelled just as good as the regular meals. 

It seems to be a hit with the crew. I saw at least a couple of crewmen saving part of their lunch to have as a snack later. They had to eat in shifts, since the Mess can't seat everyone at once, so Tali and I waited till everyone else had eaten. 

"So how's that soup, Tali? It's based on one of Chef's favorites... of course we had to make it in the resequencer to get the dextro ingredients..."

"The flavor is different from anything I've ever tasted, but I'd be happy to have it again!" 

That makes me smile, and I kinda have the idea that she might be smiling too, behind that mask. "I'll pass the compliment along to Chef."

I pull out another food package that I'd brought separately. "Here, I brought you something special. Programmed it myself, based on one of my family's recipes. It's my favorite dessert."

She takes a cautious first taste, and then reaches for more. "It's excellent - but very sweet. I'd probably better not eat it too often if I want my suit to still fit. What is it called?"

"Tali Zorah vas Normandy, you're the first quarian to get to try my Momma's prize-winning pecan pie. I'll be sure to tell her you like it."

"Do you think she'd share that recipe?"

"I think she'd be real honored."

 


End file.
